The Lamb of God

March 1, 2015 Background Scripture: John 1:29 – 34 Lesson Passage: John 1:29 – 34 As a child, I recall seeing several pictures hanging on the living room wall in many homes. This lesson brings one of them to mind. It was a Michelangelo’s type rendition of Jesus holding a cute little lamb in his left arm while pointing upwardly with his right index finger. Another picture on the wall in several churches back home depicted Jesus walking among a flock of sheep with a shepherd’s staff in his right hand. In both cases the focus was on Jesus’ tender care for a helpless little lamb. I must admit, the sermons in those churches where the picture hung seldom matched the picture. The pictures depicted Jesus’ tender side but the sermons often contained stern warnings about God’s vengeance against all unrighteousness. I believe both sides are brought to bear in our lesson text. God has a lamb that is tender and innocent. Because of his meekness, he seems almost helpless without the Father’s care. On the flip side, the stern warnings of doom to people who trust in themselves seem to go unheeded—not because people don’t care but because they don’t always know about the option that God has made available for us. God’s innocent little lamb will take our place and suffer the doom warranted because of our unrighteousness. The lamb will be given in exchange for the souls of many. Although innocent, the lamb will suffer as a criminal before finally yielding its life so that its blood can atone for our souls. The difference between the pictures and God’s lamb is striking. The lamb in the pictures was indeed a dumb animal that had no knowledge of right or wrong or what it means to die. In other words, part of its innocence came from not having intelligence and awareness of moral and ethical behavior. God’s lamb is intelligent and quite aware of what it means to suffer and die a sinner’s death. As a sinner, there must be an experience of separation from the presence of God and His holiness. God’s lamb had never known such separation. God’s lamb would experience more than just the love of the Father. It would also endure being the object of God’s wrath for it would become a detestable thing in God’s sight. The lamb would be plunged into darkness as the Father would refuse to look upon it in its sinful state. The lamb’s death will satisfy God’s righteous indignation towards sinful people. Many will be reconciled back to God through the vicarious death of the lamb. The lamb’s innocence before God will be transferred to people who look to the lamb for redemption. The lamb’s suffering will be accepted in the place of the suffering that mankind rightfully deserves. Man will be made right with God because the lamb will be made sin for mankind and will suffer the fate of sinners. Israel waited patiently for centuries for the arrival of the Lamb of God. John the Baptist publically proclaimed his arrival with the words: Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Not long after that proclamation, John the Baptist declared that his ministry would now begin to fade as the Lamb’s ministry begins to grow. Robert C. Hudson February 18, 2015